Police seek female bandit who wore socks

EVERETT -- Detectives in Everett are trying to solve the mystery of the sock-footed bandit.The case involves a burglary that occurred in the late morning of March 8 in the 2500 block of Grand Avenue.That day, a thin middle-aged woman with brown hair broke into a home and stole an estimated $3,800 in electronics.An occupant of the home got a glimpse of the suspect, who she described as small with a gruff voice.When they encountered each other in a bedroom, the suspect ran off. She wasn't wearing shoes, just socks.Detectives believe the woman broke a basement window to gain entry into the home.Officers recovered a screwdriver with blood on it.Outside the basement window, they found a pair of sandals that had not been there the day before when one of the burglary victims was gardening.Inside they found footprints from someone wearing socks. Photos were taken of the tracks left on the hardwood floor.Police have made inroads since then.A search warrant gives insight into the lengths detectives sometimes go to solve a property crime. The investigation has tracked a laptop computer stolen in the Everett heist to addresses in Lake Stevens, Marysville and Arlington.The Everett case is being investigated as both a burglary and trafficking in stolen property. It appears the laptop has changed hands at least twice. In fact, it was an Arlington detective who recovered the device."This is an ongoing case, which has not yet been solved," Everett officer Aaron Snell said. "However, we have gotten this far by working with the Arlington Police Department. This type of case allows law enforcement to work together towards solving crimes that cross jurisdictional boundaries."Computer security software helped track the computer to a part of Marysville. The laptop owner could not get an exact location but told police that the computer had been renamed "Mike's now," indicating that someone else had claimed ownership.Three weeks after the burglary, an Arlington police officer told Everett detectives that the computer had been recovered after someone left it with an Arlington School District employee for repairs. A man named Mike brought in a hard drive he wanted installed into the laptop. It turned out that the hard drive had an Arlington teacher's files on it. Her laptop had been stolen during a school fair, court papers said.An interview with the man led detectives to the doorstep of a Lake Stevens woman, 49.On April 24, police took a DNA sample from her, suspecting she may be the sock-foot burglar.In seeking a judge's signature on a search warrant, an Everett detective wrote: "The suspect's brazen burglary of an occupied residence during daytime hours leads me to request DNA analysis to identify the suspect. The suspect is likely an active burglar in the Everett area." Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com

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